Dispensing devices in the form of capsules, which are broken open or punctured to dispense their contents, so that the metered amount of the ingredients can be dispensed, have been known for many years already. For example, plastic capsules, which are sealed with an aluminum foil and can be torn open by a protruding pull tab accordingly, have been known for a very long time. Such capsules are used to dispense coffee creamer, for example, or salad dressing, honey, marmalade or many other foods.
However, such dispensing devices are also known for industrial applications, for example, in order to add predefined dosing amounts of fertilizers, herbicides or insecticides, which are combined with a second, substantially larger amount of a liquid base.
Such dispensing devices serve not only for metered dispensing of liquid or pourable substances but also frequently serve to increase the stability of pharmaceutical drugs or beverages, to which an increased amount of vitamins have been added or other active ingredients that are not very stable in aqueous phase but can be stored for a practically unlimited period of time in powder form. In such cases, such dispensing devices are combined directly with a closure and can already be dispensed into the aqueous phase of a container on opening the closure or before opening the closure. Typical examples of such possibilities include bottles for isotonic beverages to which vitamins in high doses and other active ingredients are added.
With such applications in particular, the mixing ratio in which the aqueous phase and the additive are to be combined is defined in advance. This means that practically 99% water and 1% active ingredient is often being sold. In all such solutions, these active ingredients are packaged in capsules or capsule-like containers and opened by means of certain puncture devices. These puncture devices are part of the closure, for example, in which the capsule is accommodated. The pressure is then applied practically centrally on the capsule, destroying same. To do so, the puncture devices are designed specifically accordingly in order to ensure that the film or foil of the capsules is not only torn open linearly and the contents can hardly flow out at all but instead the capsule film is torn open preferably in several directions from centrally to radially. This means that the capsule itself is manufactured of a relatively easily torn material, such as aluminum foil, for example. Since such aluminum foil is of course also destroyed quickly unintentionally, the capsules must be completely shielded from the outside world. This is readily the case with the closures integrated into such capsules. However, this means that the active ingredient is being sold together with the aqueous phase, because in principle, the container on which the closure having the integrated capsule is additionally mounted also protects this capsule. If the container were not present, this protection would no longer be provided.
The destruction and/or opening of such capsules is already quite complex, as already indicated. Completely different puncture perforators or cutting devices are needed to open the capsules, depending on which material the capsule is made and depending on the thickness or thinness of the wall of which it is made. For example, DE 2010942 discloses a screw closure designed as a capsule in the upper region and having a flexible membrane that is to be destroyed by means of an ejector attached to the membrane. An approach according to WO 02/092440 also functions similarly. Here again, a puncture device is arranged on the underside of a curved flexible membrane. The capsule here is implemented as a blister pack arranged on the neck of the container.
A similar system is also disclosed in WO 2007/017911. A blister pack is welded and glued onto a lower part of a closure under a removable cap, and the user uses his finger to press on this blister pack.
Another approach is known from EP 2186748 where the cover surface of a closure is provided, suitable for accommodating a tablet. Above the tablet the cover surface of the closure is deformable and, like the solid tablet, the film closing the space can be punctured.
Finally, EP 1499535 also describes a capsule, which is held on the opening of a container and in which there is a puncture device that is activated after removing a screw cap cover and should at sever the capsule bottom least approximately completely.
All these known approaches have substantial disadvantages. If the puncture device is simply designed in the form of a mandrel, then there is an extremely high probability that this mandrel will cause the outlet opening to become clogged after puncturing the capsule. However, if the contents are present in liquid or pourable form, then none of these approaches which are based on the principle of blister packs, can be employed. It is typically also assumed that the film or foil sealing the receiving space must be destroyed entirely or completely. Depending on the action of the puncture device on the corresponding film or foil this requires varying amounts of force. Furthermore, with such approaches, there is always the risk that the film or foil might be destroyed during this destruction in such a way that many pieces of the film or foil fall into the container, and this is beyond the control of the user.